


Make a wish

by orphan_account



Category: One Piece
Genre: Fluff, Getting Back Together, M/M, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:41:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21935392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Your prompt: Zoro traveling long distances just to see Sanji. (After some years.)“Aren’t you supposed to wear shoes?” Zoro retorted, without answering to her previous question. Wasn’t she supposed to wear something warmer to be outside? And where were her parents?The little girl looked at her feet and curled her toes to then put the right foot onto the left one. “I should!” She replied as she started playing with her hands, intertwining her fingers with one another.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 4
Kudos: 132
Collections: Zoro and Sanji Fics





	Make a wish

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays, fam!
> 
> I have a warning for you: I'm not a native speaker, so, I apologize in advance for some little mistakes, but couldn't find a beta for this.
> 
> That is, I've been writing this for the past few weeks, but it's my first fic about Zoro & Sanji *sigh* I hope I wrote them correctly!
> 
> As I said in the tags, this is just pure fluff, nothing more and nothing less.
> 
> This fic is dedicated to all the people that need something to do during this happy day - I'm not used to Christmas anymore, but I hope you can spend this day with people you love and care about.
> 
> Please, enjoy.

He was truly pathetic. 

He knew that he was not a teenager anymore - damn, he hadn’t been one for so long by now, and yet his heart kept beating like a *taiko drum during a festival, booming into his chest as he stood still in front of the main entrance of the Baratie. That is, he was not a kid anymore, but the idea of having traveled for so long just to get laughed at prevented him from stepping in, making him feel like one of those weak and vulnerable brats who still smell of milk. He could feel like the young and childish boy he once was, who was not brave enough to talk civilly with the person he cared about.

He could hear all the voices coming from the inside, and he imagined that all the guests were having a blast, judging from the joyful chattering that filled the floating-restaurant; moreover, all the boats berthed there left little to the imagination, suggesting that all the tables were reserved for that night - honestly, he expected nothing less from  _ that _ shitty cook.

Said boats were adorned with colorful lights of any kind, and some of them even had flags with a Jolly Roger printed on the fabric. The surrounding glimmered like an artificial aurora borealis reflected into the water, and for a moment, Zoro thought that he would’ve been satisfied just by drinking his wine there, outside, waiting for the fireworks and, with a little help by his good star, for the cook to come out. Of course, you’d say, it would be easier if he’d decide to open the damn door and look for Sanji himself, like the grown-ass man he was but ---

But? 

\--- 

He wasn’t even sure the cook would accept him in without putting up a fight of theirs or, even worse, without kicking him back outside, throwing the swordsman in the cold sea of December. Yet, the thought made him smile a bit: it’s been so long since they last had had a chance to spar - it would be a pity not to take advantage of that fortuity. Without risking to freeze in the sea, that is.

Pff. Fortuity my ass, he thought as he scratched the back of his head. He had traveled for months in order to get there for the Christmas eve just to spend it with the cook, but he hadn’t even thought, not even for a moment, about the possibility of possible rejection. But now, now that the infamous idea was crossing his mind, Zore felt like a teen who has to deal with his first love-story, (even though there wasn’t a love story at all in their case, not anymore). 

What if he didn’t want to see him ever again?

The very thought made him shiver - how long had it been? 2 years? No. More, it was 4 years at best, and no wonder why the cook would be mad if he saw him there, without warning, with the arrogant request to get in and celebrate together. Of course. What was he even thinking? The cook was so fucking pedantic that he would have been able to ask him to do a reservation before getting admitted inside. Pedantic and with a proud typical of a spoiled princess. 

He’d be mad - he’d send him flying kicking his ass with a Diable Jambe so powerful that he would be able to reach the North Blue sizzling like a rocket. It’d be fun, but he had no intention to try it, in all honesty. Not now, at least.

The door of the restaurant cracked open, breaking the silence settled outside as the chatters coming from the inside reached for his hears all at once.

“You’re like a marimo!” A squeaky voice said. It came from a little girl who was peering through the opening. She was a red-haired girl, hair kept in two low ponytails, who was tall enough to barely reach his thigh, with big, green eyes and freckles. “Are you a customer? Are you alone?” She said, stepping outside, dressed in a pompous red dress with white fur at the end of the sleeves, white comfy, wool socks with a red decoration at the end of it, right on her toe and -- wait -- where…?

“Aren’t you supposed to wear shoes?” Zoro retorted, without answering to her previous questions. Wasn’t she supposed to wear something warmer if she wanted to come outside? And where were her parents?

The little girl looked at her feet and curled her toes to then put the right foot onto the left one. “I should!” She replied as she started playing with her hands, intertwining her fingers with one another. “But they’re my bait! For papa!” She explained, bending her right thumb with the other.

Zoro quirked an eyebrow, first in confusion, then, when he bent towards the girl, he looked at her with a grin, amused and weirdly interested. Who would be so stupid to get tricked by a little girl? But then, he remembered about his captain and the many times Chopper had tricked him using a childish ploy very similar to keep him away from his brand-new medicines. “Bait?” 

The girl nodded eagerly, eyes shining and a little smile forming on her round face. But, before replaying, she started walking around Zoro, who stood in all his height once again while the kid studied him as if she was plotting something.

“Papa thinks I’m playing princess with other kids. But I don’t want to be a princess!” She explained, tugging at the swordsman long, green coat. 

“And what about shoes?” Zoro questioned again, completely lost - as always. If she was supposed to be playing with other brats, why leaving her shoes behind?

The girl kept touching the coat, experiencing its fluffiness, “He won’t think that I’m outside without them!” Then, she lifted her head to look at Zoro: his face was dry because of the cold breeze, and it had marked the wrinkles around the corner of his mouth and on his temples. The earring clinked when the wind hit his face, catching the attention of the kid, who pointed at it jumping like a happy bunny.

Well, she had a point. 

Suddenly, the girl came back to her analysis of the coat, reaching for the buttons and twisting them.

“Do you like my coat that much?” He asked eventually. He almost forgot why he was there. Almost, because there was no chance that he could forget about the shitty cook.

“It looks warm. And you’re big,” she replied, shifting her focus on his swords, touching the hilt of Wado Ichimonji. She seemed excited to say the least. “And you look strong too! You can make a good knight!”

“Ne, didn’t you say that you don’t want to play princess?” Sanji would love to play with little girls like this one, he thought. He’d be such a charming prince; he had the sassiness and the coquetry of one already.

“No, no! I’m a knight too! I’m the captain of the guards!” She said, placing her hands on her hips and pulling her chest out, proudly. 

“Well, I don’t like princesses either so, we have a problem here,” Zoro explained, and with that, he approached the door. It was or now or never, he told himself. Moreover, he didn’t want to let the girl freeze outside, and he was sure that she would follow him eventually.

“That’s wonderful! Because our target is a prince!”

But instead of just following him, she grabbed his middle and index finger while he was opening the door with the other hand, and preceded him inside, squeezing the fingers at every step. “He is handsome!” She added as if the information was essential for the game.

The inside of the Baratie was brightly lit and all the tables were reserved, as expected - happy families, groups of friends, couples and even a bunch of low-rank pirates were celebrating the eve there, eating delicious food and drinking good booze, while kids were running around, scattered here and there playing altogether. 

Eh, Sanji had created the restaurant of his dreams, finally: a place where people could eat in peace, forgetting of all the troubles that tormented the world at that time - pirates, civilians, adventurers, and marines even could take a break from the cruelty lurking outside. Which was funny, honestly. 

That restaurant was owned by Black Leg Sanji, the renowned chef of the current Pirate King, and yet nobody has ever tried to take the place down. It was comical if you considered that all of that couldn't have been possible without some special permission and a little help from Koby! Though, even wanting to capture the chef, who would be so brave (or stupid) to even dare to fight against him? Did anyone have any idea how strong those legs could kick? Zoro smirked: his own ass certainly remembered the pain, after all those years.

“Oh, Ginger, where you --- oh --- Roronoa-san!”

A penguin, well --- not a penguin, but a blond waiter in a suit, was standing in front of them, behind the counter with a book filled with signatures on it; behind the man, there was a closet in which were stored the guests’ coats, furs, and other personal items.

“Oh? Do you know him?” The girl asked. Her name was Ginger, uh?

“I don’t think we’ve ever met before,” Zoro intervened. Well, he thought, he was the Pirate King’s swordsman and Number One swordsman in the world so it was obvious that some random guy could know him. In addition to that, he was in Sanji’s realm, people would know about him and the others for sure.

The man - the penguin, Zoro decided - smiled at the girl. “He is papa’s friend,” he explained, making Ginger smile brightly at the sudden news!

Papa’s --- wait! “Are you Sanji’s daughter?” Zoro burst out, looking at the kid who was now grabbing his hands with both of hers. 

Well, shit, this changed everything!

Did Sanji get married during the past years? This would explain why he had started to refuse every invitation from Luffy to join them in their sporadic adventures, the swordsman realized.

But it didn’t make any sense, he told himself right after. 4 years before Sanji had nobody with him, and Ginger looked older than a 4 years old kid. Had Zoro lost his mind and completely forgot about a big, whole chunk of years…?

“You’re papa’s friend! This makes everything easier! I’m taking him with me! Keep doing a good job here and don’t tell papa!” She shouted, delighted, all at once, yanking Zoro to take him away. She wasn't particularly strong, he had to admit it, and she would have been able to break free with a single movement, snapping her away, but...

The waiter waved his hand at here, visibly amused, "good luck, miss!"

Yet, they didn’t enter the main room where everyone was celebrating, as Zoro expected, and diverted their steps to another door where was written “STAFF ONLY” in capital red letters.

“Hey! Hey! Where are we going?” Zoro asked once Ginger had opened the door and got greeted by stairs going to the first floor. 

Shit, shit! What would he do now? What if Sanji was there with his wife and he was intruding? What if ---

What if he was unwanted…? 

He could easily escape from the girl, but she was Sanji's daughter and who knows what Sanji would do to him if he discovered that he had been mean to Ginger?

Well, he should have expected it after all those years of ‘push and pull’ between them: Sanji had asked him, years ago, to  _ fucking chill  _ and stay with him at the Baratie, until a new call from their captain, at least. But Zoro had refused him once, then twice, until the day Sanji had refrained himself from asking again, one last time, before parting ways for what had seemed like an eternity. Yet, even though now they were so close, Sanji had a daughter. And nobody knew about it outside from the Baratie - or maybe Luffy knew but didn't tell him.

“We have a mission, marimo-roa!” Ginger whispered after reaching the first floor, which was illuminated enough for them to see where they were putting their feet. There were a lot of rooms and each one of them had the name of the owner on it. Useless to say, most of them were completely unknown to Zoro.

“Marimo-roa…?” The swordsman asked, blinking and the girl nodded in response.

“Yes! You’re a marimo called Roronoa! Marimo-roa!”

“My name is Zoro. Roronoa Zoro,” he explained. Where had she learned the word ‘marimo’, he wondered? Did Sanji talk about him a lot using that nickname or it was just a coincidence? He shook his head, letting Ginger lead the way towards a room at the end of the corridor: of course she would know what a marimo was, matter of fact, she was Sanji’s daughter, and Zoro knew he would be the kind of dad that would teach everything he knew to his offspring. Even the useless info about what a marimo was, that is. It was just so much like Sanji… and, of course, it was nothing related to Zoro and their bickering.

“Marimoro!” She beamed, after considering the new information.

Yes, definitely Sanji’s daughter…

“Do you want to tell me where are we going? I don’t think your father would be happy to know that I’m here without his permit,” well, since when did he need Sanji’s permission to do something? Because that was the cook’s restaurant, a voice in his mind shouted back. Because Zoro shouldn’t be there, not after all this time. Furthermore, without even a single warning. 

He wished Sanji wouldn’t kick him outside at the end of all of that...

“We have a mission, knight Marimoro!” Ginger said, stopping in front of a room, with two names written on it. Zoro squinted his eye: Sanji & Ginger, and some bunnies were doodled all around the two names, in blue.

Two names only? Where was the third, the mother’s one? 

Suddenly, the little girl started walking back and forth in front of him, with her hands behind the back and chest out in what looked like a march. “The Prince of the Baratie is sick!” She exclaimed, startling Zoro, who now was looking at her with his good eye wide open.

“What? What happened to Sanji?” He demanded, despite knowing it couldn’t be anything to be worried about; otherwise, the kid wouldn’t joke about something like that. Or would she...?

Ginger grinned, turning and placing one hand on her chest, there where the heart was, while the other was on her face, covering her eyes with the back of it. She seemed to be copying one of those dramatic poses. Then, she sighed, “He’s lovesick.”

Well, as always, Zoro thought, smiling gently at the kid.

“ ** _I know your father well enough to say that it’s not the first time and it’s not the last either_** ,” he wanted to say, but instead of doing so, curious and not wanting to wait for his fatal heartbreak in front of Sanji himself, he said something else.

He lowered himself onto his knees to reach the kid’s height, patting her head: “If your parents love each other so much, you should be happy for your mother,” and that was enough to make his heart stop for a second, just an instant. 

_ Sanji is happy and in love with someone else. Give up. Get out of there. You have no more time... _

The girl tilted her head to the left with a pout, then to the right, grimacing and slapped the hand away, annoyed. Instead of talking about her mother, she cupped Zoro’s face with her tiny hands, squeezing.

“You’re stupid,” she said, simply. “Are you sure you’re papa’s friend?”

“I mean, I haven’t seen him in a long time…”

“Are you sure you don’t have any algae stuck in your brain, marimoro?” Ginger resumed, caressing his hair as you’d do with a puppy. 

“Are you sick?” She said, pressing her hand against his forehead, humming when she found out that his body temperature was okay. “Guess you’re just stupid…”

...Yes, just like Sanji, indeed.

“Just stay in this room and be a good knight!” She said after a while, letting Zoro stand up again. 

Ginger opened the door, allowing the light of the corridor to light up the room a little, and Zoro took his time to inspect it: two single beds, one for Sanji and one for his daughter, the swordsman assumed. There were toys scattered all around, and from what he could see, there were only two dolls, there, on the round carpet at the center of the room, and the other toys were tin soldiers, little and colorful building bricks and many stuffed animals.

“Just wait here! We have to save the prince!”

And the door closed behind him - the room drowned into darkness once again.

He sighed and wished for the best.

***

“Where is Ginger?” 

He hadn’t seen his baby girl for a while, now… 

“I saw her with a man some minutes ago,” someone told him.

“What?!” The blond screeched back, glaring at the waiter who just came into the kitchen to leave some empty dishes. His princess with a man?! It had to be a joke, of course!

“Yeah, he was---”

“Dad! Dad!” As soon as Ginger entered the room, Sanji left everything in the hands of one of the many assistants he had been able to hire, one of those brats he saved from getting captured because of some minor theft. Most of the assistants and the waiters were poor kids saved from the street, others were a bunch of wanna-be-pirates who ended up getting adopted by Sanji himself to not let them captured by the marine. But that was a secret, of course. 

He could be damned if any of his clients would know about it! That is, he preferred it to remain between him and those guys. 

Despite the premises, everyone there was loyal to Sanji, and this was enough for the cook.

“Oh, princess! Love of my eyes! There you are!” He reached for her little girl - wide smile and a series of kisses followed what looked like a very, suffocating hug in which he lifted Ginger from the floor to swing with her in the process.

“Oh, princess! Dear! I was so worried! I thought one of those evil men had approached you!” He screeched, while his subordinates were smiling at the scene. There was always a certain warm filling the air whenever Sanji was with his daughter. He surely loved her a lot, everyone knew it that much. He loved her more than any other woman, even though she was not his biological daughter, that is.

“Dad! Dad! Let me go! We have to go to see the knight!” Ginger shouted, trying to escape from the hug: she hated when the stubble of his father scratched against her cheeks - it was annoying, and she didn’t like the fuss he made every time either. Though, the mention of the knight seemed to stop him enough to let her slip away from his grip, standing on her own feet, finally.

“Knight?” Sanji repeated. Oh. So it was that… she had forced one of the guests to play at her game, once again. That was why she was going around with a man, again. That for saying, there was a stranger in his bedroom.

Again.

He hoped that he would have to apologize only, instead of kicking some asses like the last time…

He sighed and petted her head as the smile faded into a flat line. He knew his princess didn’t want to harm him, but a middle-aged man like him didn’t have the time to believe in knights and princesses and love at first sight anymore. He knew she wanted to find the knight who would have saved her prince from the loneliness. He knew, but the game was out of her hands by now - her little, fragile hands who held his heart entirely.

Moreover, now that he noticed, why was she barefoot? Ah, nevermind...

“Ginger, what did we say about involving strangers in your games…?”

She pouted. 

Oh.

No.

Nonono!

The pout! No!

“But he is the right one, I’m sure! He is like that man!” She explained, putting her hands as if she was praying him to hear her out. 

That man --- 

No, please… he didn’t want to meet a stranger. Again. 

"Ginger, sweetheart, it's impossible..."

But he is green! He has a scar too! He has a scar like the pirate you tell me about! And has swords!”

"Ginger, I---"

No, wait…

“Green?” He repeated, blinking. Did she invite over the Grinch or something? 

Or a certain… someone…? Someone like that man.

“Who is him?” Sanji asked then.

“He looks like an algae! I called him marimoro!” She explained, playing with her fingers and biting her lower lip. Ginger knew she had all the attention she needed to lead his father from the knight! She knew and now the pout was transforming into a wide, bright smile, one of those smiles that Sanji was once used to see on his captain’s face.

“Marimoro?” 

Green. Scar. Swords. Marimoro: marimo plus … 

No, no! It’ couldn’t be, he told himself, shaking off the idea, away from his mind. 

It was just a coincidence, was it?

The stranger waiting in his bedroom happened to be green - probably because he had green hair - and of course, she would call him ‘marimo’ knowing how many time Sanji had talked about it, telling her that it reminded him of a certain, dumb someone. 

And what about the scar and the swords? Just a coincidence! Yes!

But the ‘oro’ part? Sanji didn’t get it at all!

Ginger stuck her tongue out and then pouted again as she crossed her arms against her chest, starting swinging on her heels. 

“Don’t wanna tell you!” She said. Why wouldn't he follow her without complaining? Adults were stupid...

She cared for her papa, and he seemed to be just so blind to not even see that he needed help; and who better than his daughter could find the knight who will cure him for his sickness? 

Of course, it was Ginger, who else? That was her duty and her duty alone.

“You have to meet him! This is the last time, I swear! He is perfect!”

Sanji considered all the information she had talked about, once again, for the last time: green, with a scar and a ‘oro’ part attached to the ‘marimo’. Fucking swords...

Marimoro: marimo plus Zoro.

He sighed. He knew that his daughter had the habitude to mix names and nicknames together to create her personal names for people, but that --- that couldn’t be a coincidence at all. How many men could have green hair, a scar and a name that sounded just the same as that swordsman's? And who would take fucking swords with them? Exactly, not just one sword, but more than one.

“He will be the last one, okay?” He asked, defeated but, odd to say, with a strange resolution heating up his heart: if the man waiting for him was  _ that person,  _ Sanji wouldn’t let him go away that easily _. _

Really, after all those years, let him wish for the best.

***

“Papa, don’t scare him!”

Steps and the kid’s voice. Ginger was back…

“If I like him enough…”

And that was Sanji… Damn, how much had he missed that voice?

“You’ll like him!”

Eh, he really hoped Sanji would like him like back then...

They stopped in front of the door. And Zoro panicked. He fucking panicked just hearing that voice!

What if the cook would be mad?

What if he didn’t want him there?

What it, what if --- Oh, for christ sake! Get a grip, you moron!

And then… the door opened, and Sanji’s hand slipped in to turn on the switch of the light.

“I’ll go to take my shoes!” Ginger shouted, starting running back towards the stairs.

Of course, the brat was leaving them alone. But that was for the better..

And then Sanji was there, in front of him, with a wrinkle more on his forehead, the suit and glasses. Oh, the goddamn glasses! Zoro had told him many times to not wear them because of the sexy aura they gifted him with. 

Besides, the cook there had no surprise on his face. He was strangely relaxed, pleased, almost.

“You really had to sit on the carpet with your filthy boots and smelly clothes, didn’t you?” He said, approaching him oh, so slowly that Zoro couldn’t refrain himself from straighten his arms toward the cook and taking him on his lap, between the toys. Always the tease that shitty cook...

“I wanted to wait for you on your bed, but then you’d have kicked me in the sea for sure,” Zoro explained.

In the moment that passed, everything was still; the swordsman was content to just sit there, indulging in that contact he had craved for so long. Sanji didn’t dare to move either, and it took him some time to finally give in to the impulse to fasten his harms behind Zoro's back, tightening his grip.

“I met your daughter,” the swordsman resumed. “She is cute.”

Sanji hummed, and closed his eyes, shifting his weight to find a more comfortable position as he hid his face against Zoro’s chest. The coat sure was comfy but he would be sure to take it off before giving him any chance to come closer to Ginger again.

“Tell it to the people who abandoned her and break them to pieces, please,” at that request, Zoro hugged him with more possessiveness, and the cook could feel the smile forming against his neck.

Oh, he had adopted her, then.

“You’re not married…”

Sanji’s eyes snapped open, widening them to stare at the other. “What?”

Zoro placed his hand on the side of his face, brushing the stubble and placing a kiss on his nose. “You’re not married…” He repeated, leaving a trail of cold kisses starting from the tip of Sanji’s nose to reach his temples. 

“What are you babbling about?” The cook laughed.

But Zoro didn’t give him the time to say any more word, and he kissed him. Lips against lips. He should have known better and explained why he was there, but the tension he had built up until that very moment, got destroyed by that single thought: Sanji was not married. And he was there, on his lap, pandering that sloppy kiss.

“This is not a hotel, marimo,” the cook parted to say, before getting back to the salty kiss of the other man. Had he washed his face with seawater...? Ugh... Later he would convince the swordsman to take a shower...

“Who said I’m gonna leave?” The other replied against Sanji’s mouth. Even Mihawk had a home where he used to live, back then, where he had waited many years for a worthy opponent’s arrival.

“I and Ginger are a dial package,” the cook clarified, as if it wasn’t obvious.

And Zoro smirked. “Oh, I like her already.”

**Author's Note:**

> NOTES:  
> *Taiko drum: a Japanese drum.
> 
> Come shout at me on Twitter! -> @cam3ulia


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